


The Difference Between Acting and Performing Is Everything

by mischiefandmagic



Category: British Actor RPF, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012), Thor (Movies), Tom Hiddleston - Actor
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-28
Updated: 2013-07-23
Packaged: 2017-12-06 18:07:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/738584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mischiefandmagic/pseuds/mischiefandmagic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: "...Tom meets Loki years and years ago and inspires him to be an actor because Tom really, really wants to play Thor in a film (assuming he's young, so that they can be brothers) and then later he's happy he got the part of Loki instead because he doesn't feel very brotherly towards the real Loki ;) if you get me, nudgewink :D"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fate and Irony Love To Play Games

**Author's Note:**

> No Emma because she's not born yet.

He was only a child when he first met him. Eight, to be exact. His family had rented out a cabin to stay for their week-long winter vacation, and he, like any child, had gotten quickly bored as well as fed up with staying inside. So he ventured outside, exploring the woods around the cabin.  Unfortunately, though, he had, like any other child, foolishly lost himself quite quickly in the woods. Honestly, he hadn’t wondered too far from the main road, but his younger self didn’t know that, not back then.

He’s never cried so hard since that day, heaving as if he was having some kind of diaphragmatic attack and sniveling what seemed so incessantly, tears rolling down his face in what he deemed the cold cruelty of the English winter. Alone and lost in the woods and a million thoughts racing through his head.

Oh, no, he was lost. Oh no. No, no, no, no. Oh no. He was lost. And no one would find him. He’d be here forever. And Mum, Dad, and Sarah... His whole _family_ would wonder where he was.

**And they wouldn’t find him.**

His anxiety and worry built on itself, only furthering his panic and causing his reaction to escalate to such a horrendous degree, his whimpering having long turned into downright sobbing.

“Child, what is wrong?”

His crying lessened to mere sniffling for a moment as he looked up at the kneeling stranger in front of him. Raven black hair, neatly combed back - a striking contrast to the stranger’s white skin and the white snow landscape around them - allowed a clear look at the curious man’s face. Skin so smooth, expression concerned, yet patient, and a voice he would never forget. It was soft as well as immensely soothing. And it had worked like a charm, quickly calming him down.

But nothing caught his attention better than the two emerald eyes that stared back into his. They were so naturally brightly lit, that he swore that even in pitch black darkness he could see them, as if they could glow in the dark.

With a loud sniff, he replied in a high pitch voice, as he yet was to reach puberty, “I’m lost. And- And Mum and Dad and Sarah-” Seeing that he was beginning to go into hysterics again, the stranger quickly shushed and soothed him once more. On the strange man’s face was a swift look of panic. The man looked over his shoulders and glanced around them. It was rather strange, but he easily swept the thought aside when the man spoke again.

“Come. Let’s find your parents,” the man told him as he rose, a small smile on his face. He gaped and marveled as the stranger rose to his full height. W-o-w, he thought, he’s as tall as a giant. “And...” The man continued, oblivious to the his goggling. He quickly stopped staring open-mouthed, remembering how his mother always chastised him for doing so. The stranger, though, seemed slightly frustrated, as if he were trying to remember something. “Your sister,” the man finally said. The light bulb went on in his head and he quickly said, “Sarah!”

“Yes,” the stranger said, a smile on his face once more. Though, he hardly thought it was genuine. Nonetheless, the man held out his hand and, hesitantly, he took it. And that’s how they walked, him only reaching up the man’s stomach. It didn’t take long for the stranger to help him find the main road, after all they weren’t that far from it.

“The cabin!” he exclaimed when he saw it. The man chuckled but said nothing for a moment. But then it was time. The stranger smiled once more and said, “Go. I am sure your family misses you dearly.” At that, he frowned. He didn’t really know why, but he suddenly became sad. Not sad like having lost a toy or someone had died. Just sad. Like miss-someone sad.

He gave a small smile to the man and said in return, “Okay. Be safe...” He shifted on his feet, realizing he didn’t know the man’s name. Again the man softly chuckled, replying with “Loki”. A huge, wide smile spread across his face. “Thanks, Loki.”

Loki gave a small bow of his head, replying with, “It was no trouble at all. Goodbye...” “Tom,” he quickly said. And then Loki finally gave him the most genuine smile of their little encounter. “May the Norns bless you with a long and jovial life, Thomas.”


	2. Anguis In Herba

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "...Tom meets Loki years and years ago and inspires him to be an actor because Tom really, really wants to play Thor in a film (assuming he's young, so that they can be brothers) and then later he's happy he got the part of Loki instead because he doesn't feel very brotherly towards the real Loki ;) if you get me, nudgewink :D"

Neither him nor the god himself ever thought they would meet again. It was a random, one time happenstance to them, the other remaining as just a stranger in their eyes. A stranger who they had quickly forgotten not long after their first encounter. He, being the young, naive child he was, had not a care for the stranger and soon forgot all about the man, becoming more interested and absorbed by his family and the rest of their winter vacation. The god more than likely wrote him off as a Midgardian child of no concern or importance and continued with his life in Asgard. But that wasn’t the only time they would ever come - or in Loki’s case sometimes, stumble - across each other. Not by a long shot.

It was three years later, and he was was 11, boarding at The Dragon School still. He had just finished classes for the day and was _more_ than ecstatic. It was the last day of school before winter break and the day was officially over. Their family was going, ironically, to the very same cabin as they had the winter he first met Loki. He was on his way to the Lodge, where his mother would be waiting to take him to their home in Wimbledon to pack, when he was knocked over.

He groaned at the weight that laid on top of him. Oh _God_ , he thought, still lying on his back, eyes closed, What in _hell_ fell on top of me? And _why_ is it so heavy? He opened his eyes, and much to his surprise, found bright, emerald green eyes staring back at him. The person quickly shifted his weight off of him- No, he realized, He was scrambling to get _off_ of him. When the boy stood to his full height, his eyes widened at how tall the boy was. Goodness, he thought, What was he, 6’ 2”?

It then also hit him that the boy wasn’t wearing Draconian dress wear. He wore plenty and plenty of leather, black from head to toe with the occasional highlights of green and gold and silver. The patches of silver he saw was divided into squares lined down together as well as side by side. Like studs. Metal studs. The boy even wore black leather boots. Honestly, the boy looked intimidating. He swallowed and stared at the boy, eyes wide and nerves set alight under his skin. Fight or flight, his mind told him. The boy only stared back at him, although clearly not intimated in anyway of him. He certainly did not like being in this situation.

Finally, the boy smiled politely with a small chuckle and said, “Forgive me, I had...” The boy looked behind himself and, turning back to him, then continued, “been pushed through the bushes.” Realizing the boy and his friends must have been roughhousing, and that the boy meant no harm, he quickly eased up. A smile stretched across his face and began chuckling.

And he couldn’t stop.

The boy’s smile faded as his face twisted in confusion. Seeing the boy’s expression, he cleared his throat and apologized. “Sorry, I... I, uh,” another chuckle, “You look pretty menacing.” The boy only raised an eyebrow. “In all that leather, I mean,” he quickly added. The boy was quick to look down at what he wore. And no sooner had he done so did the boy start chuckling himself. He joined in, both having huge smiles spread across their faces. “I do, don’t I?” the boy replied. “Ehehe, yeah, you do.” They stood for a moment in awkward silence before he decided he should probably leave now before his mum chewed his head off. “Well, better be off then. Best not to keep Mum waiting any longer, or she’ll have my head.” The boy smirked and replied, “Best not then, unless you wish to be the boar of tonight’s meal.” His eyes went wide, instantly picturing the stereotypical image of a huge pig on a sliver platter with an apple in its mouth. He nervously laughed, “No, definitely not. See ya.” He gave the boy a quick wave and walked away, making his way swiftly his mum’s car as soon as he could.

 

 

It didn’t hit him until they were already out of Wimbledon what he had said. See ya. _See ya?_ Why in the world did he say that? He didn’t know the boy nor ever thought he see him again.   But _why_ did he say that? He could have easily just said _bye_.

He sighed and mentally shook it off. Oh well, definitely too late to do anything about it now. The boy was long gone, and he and his family were off to the rented cabin for the winter holiday.

 

 

Honestly, as soon as they arrived at the cabin, he had already long forgotten the boy. But it would seem Fate didn’t want him to forget. It wasn’t until two days later that he came across the “boy” again. He had, of course, gotten quickly bored, deciding to go explore the woods. Unlike the time when he was eight, he made sure to remember his way back home, something he had consciously started doing after that incident. And like every time he came back to the woods, he thought about that kind man who had helped guide him back to the road, and ultimately back to the cabin.

And that, ironically enough, is when he came across the same boy from school. He was lying on the ground, on his back, hands under his head. On his stomach was what looked like a dagger with a silver handle in it’s black leather sheath. Silently, as best as he could, he walked closer to the boy and saw his eyes were closed. He must be asleep, he thought. Right at that moment, he happened to step on a twig. It snapped, loudly, and suddenly the boy and his dagger was gone. He just... _disappeared_. One second he was there. The next, gone. He stood there, staring at the spot where the boy had just been laying. He then hear a loud sigh from behind him.

He quickly spun around to see the boy standing only a few meters away from him. The boy crossed his arms as he leaned against a tree. “Ah, it’s you.” The boy’s voice matched his expression - unimpressed and even a bit disappointed. But the boy’s expression changed instantly, a smirk spread wide across his face. “I see your ‘mum’ didn’t give you a good roast and serve you on large platter for dinner.” He chuckled nervously, saying in reply, “Oh, she _roasted_ me, alright. She just didn’t serve me for dinner.” The two chuckled under their breath, looking up at each other with huge grins on their faces. After a moment of silence, he asked, “So what are you doing here?” Quickly, the boy responded with, “I could ask you the same.”

“Well, my family likes to come here every winter break. Celebrate Christmas and New Years.” The boy looked at him curiously, but he stared back, waiting for the boy to answer him back. And he did. With a smile, the boy replied, “The very same.” He realized after a beat of awkward silence that the boy wasn’t going to say anything else, so he introduced himself. “I’m Tom,” he said. The boy politely smiled, pushing himself from the tree and straightening up to stand to his full height. He unfolded his arms and let them fall to his side, widening his stance. “Loki,” the boy replied

He smiled, “Loki. That’s a weird name.” At once, the boy frowned, anger and hurt sparking in his emerald green eyes. “But it’s _cool_ ,” he quickly added so as not to truly anger the boy. Loki only huffed, muttering something unintelligible under his breath. He was sure it was something not nice, but he keep that thought to himself. “So...” he said so as to not fall into another spell of awkward silence, which did no good considering Loki didn’t respond. He opened his mouth to try again, but Loki’s quick movement of his head stopped him. Something was wrong. Loki wasn’t even looking at him. Silently, Loki looked further somewhere behind himself to his right. After a moment of complete dead silence, Loki turned back to him, a smile plastered on his face. “Forgive me. I had thought I had heard a wolf.”

Loki laughed. Probably at his paled face. “I only jest. I do not believe there any wolves in this forest. A strange concept... but not unheard of.” He swallowed, only replying with a absently muttered “uh-huh”. There might not be any wolves, but there _could_ be a wild boar. And he most certainly was not staying around for it. He had heard of how vicious they were.

“M-Maybe we should go home now.” He hated the fact he stuttered, but if it was between his pride or getting them as far away from that boar as possible, then his pride could suffer for the time being. Loki raised an eyebrow in question. The rest of his expression appeared to be a cross between amusement and skepticism. As if asking him if he was serious.

And if as to answer, a crunch of leaves could be heard some distance from behind him. He took no time quickly moving his feet into motion, running forward to take one of Loki’s hands and hauling (and at one point almost practically dragging) the boy behind him as he ran.


End file.
